We examine two-layer geostrophic flows over a fiat bottom on the β-plane. If the displacement of the interface is of the order of the depth of the upper layer, the dynamics of the flow depends on the following non-dimensional parameters: (i) the Rossby number ε, (ii) the ratio δ of the depth of the upper layer to the total depth of the fluid, (iii) the "β-effect number" α=R0/R, cot 0, where R0 is the deformation radius, Re is the earth's radius and 0 is the latitude. In this paper, 1) we derive four sets of asymptotic equations which cover the parameter space (ε« 1,αβ). 2) In order to find out, which asymptotic regimes are relevant to the real ocean, we estimate aε, δ and « for a number of frontal flows in the Northern Pacific and Southern oceans. 3) We also discuss the stability properties of large-amplitude geostrophic flows and classify them in the (ε,α,δ)-space.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Physical Oceanography
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences
UTAS Author:	Benilov, ES (Dr Eugene Benilov)
ID Code:	8825
Year Published:	1996
Web of Science® Times Cited:	17
Deposited By:	Applied Computing and Mathematics
Deposited On:	1996-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-22
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